


A Lot Can Happen In A Year

by m_elodywixle



Series: ALCHIAY Universe [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Anxiety, F/M, Good Brother Harley Keener, Good Friends Ned Leeds & Michelle Jones, Harley Keener Needs a Hug, Harley Keener centric, Harley Keener is a bad person, Hurt Harley Keener, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt Tony Stark, Issues, M/M, Neglected (ish) Harley Keener, Non-Canon Relationship, Not Canon Compliant, OOC, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Sad Harley Keener, Sad Harley Keener's sister, The keener's are s a d, Trauma, but exterior shit yk, harley keener angst, harley keener gets a hug, he's really sad, idk how to tag lmfao, not really - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:41:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25708393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m_elodywixle/pseuds/m_elodywixle
Summary: In which Harley does illegal fighting at a fight club, when he gets a call saying he has to move to NYC alone for the next year, he's struck with internal conflicts that just can't stop. Maybe one person will stay resilient, or maybe they'll hate each other will all their heart.[unedited, no beta, will reread soon, everything is still a draft, crosspost(ed) on wattpad ]
Relationships: Harley Keener & Tony Stark, Harley Keener/Peter Parker, May Parker & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: ALCHIAY Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1864528
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, trigger warning of course :D check the tags!!! Also, I'm sorry if this is bad, I didn't know how to write it, I'm sorry :(

Chapter 1

Harley stared at his sister as she quietly did the questions that were easier than the ones she had gotten for homework. At that moment, he was helping her with something she was stuck on and he knew she was suffering just with the fact that she feels so much dread for not being able to do such a simple thing. The sadness that had planted onto her face, which was free from any ageing imperfections as it seemed. Abby didn't seem to struggle with the question he had given him, and he hoped his teaching would be good enough for her to excel in anything she wants to excel in. He was so in the clouds that he had forgotten Abby had put her pen down and instantly, as he had turned towards her, just felt a sort of relief. The happiness on her face as she had rambled about how she thought it was too hard but it was actually pretty easy. It made him feel happy that she was free from the suffering that she was in before, reminding himself of the promise he had made based on his new bubbling desire, to keep his family happy. 

His phone rang. No, he didn't expect that. Not at all, but on seeing his Boss' number on his screen as it rang with impatience and uncertainty, he answered it. 

"Hello, Boss," Harley stated in such calmness that had surprised even himself. His Boss only called when he was needed, he knew this and he was afraid that he could have been getting fired right in front of his sister. 

"Hi, Harley. So, basically, the guy dropped out. You need to be the one in the fight instead, just come now and you can train a bit," the voice of a man, who had a breathy yet deep voice, sighed with the words just echoing in the background of the words he said of, "I don't care, just come right now." 

Abby looked disappointed, she didn't want him to leave, not yet, not ever. She would be struggling on her homework with no one to ask and no one who would care, expect him. Now, he was having to go away because some guy had made him cover for the guy. She was upset, but she understood and let him go. She understood that without Harley's job, they could all come crumbling down. He wasn't abandoning her, he never would, he was just leaving for his job that stabled their life back into place. She was happy that they finally had a foundation to lay upon, happy that Harley was able to provide for them all. 

Harley was almost out the door when he was still overthinking about the possibility that the dread of not knowing something would be too much for his sister then his sister would stop trying at his homework. He felt so drawn to just helping her do her homework that he almost forgot that he was the foundation to their living at that moment. What if his sister thought this was a plot to abandon them? He wouldn't want his sister to think that, he feared that Abby and mom would think that he was abandoning them, by pretending he had to cover for someone and then just leaving forever. He doesn't ever want to leave his family and leaving his family only had ever led to him thinking and thinking and crying and panicking. 

But so, he still left, thinking as he dragged his feet across the dirty cement. He was thinking and overthinking about the possibility that now his family could abandon him, considering the fact that they could have thought this was a plan for him to abandon them. 

He shook his head before it seemed as though he just applied his "I closed the door to my soul" eyes and walked in with a stride of confidence and pride. He straightened his back and held up his chin in a proud manner. He looked confident, cold and distant yet there. That was the exterior he wanted. No vulnerability, no soul to his eyes, no weakness, just the coldness of his personality once he stepped outside. 

The inside of this strange looking illegal fight club was just dark, to hide itself from the unsuspecting citizens of the town. Lights were turned on but dimmed down to the maximum it probably could go. It was strange, but Rose Hill police didn't care about any shit that would go on. Unless it was the time when he was twelve and Tony Stark crash-landed into Rose Hill. 

"Harley!! I knew I could count on you! Get your ass here and fight bitch," his Boss snarled with annoyance at the end of his sentence, the words that were sent Harley's way didn't make his stride stop or his confident posture hunch. It didn't, but instead just made his walk more confident and cold, distancing himself from the hunched postures of everyone else in the room. 

Harley couldn't trust his words. He nodded with a smirk that he just knew he would win. 

After repeatedly being hit in the face and ribs and legs, it really didn't hurt until you sat down or moved but gave you some adrenaline instead.

"You're a tad late not gonna lie, ya missed some time to train, but ya know ya always win anyway," Boss chanted with an overly exaggerated southern accent. It was obvious he was drunk as the Boss stumbled over his feet and made it sure on his eyes and in his body language that Harley had to win today, if he didn't, he wouldn't be standing again. 

He was striding again and again before finally reaching the arena area, the biggest part of this big ass house. The audience would've been nauseating if he wasn't already nauseated just by thinking that he had to knock another man out. Of course, he didn't want to knock this man out cold. He had to. 

No one really knew who threw the first punch, but it was just "punch" and "recover" and "punch". 

The audience never had seemed to shut up, always changing and chanting and "woo"ing as blood was splattered onto the already red surface. The fist of face contact, the foot and rib contact. It was all nauseating, or maybe that was because he had been hit in the face and ribs a number of times. 

He had felt warm, clammy hands wrap around his skinny neck, engulfing his airways into their hands. His airways were now in their control, but not for long as he turned his body sideways, kicking out his leg which made the man fall sideways and let go of his neck in a way to try and stabilise himself. 

The man didn't stabilise himself as the crowd and Harley watched him fall to the ground. Immediately, the man tried to recover and stand back up but not before Harley had kicked him back down. He hovered above the man and as he saw the black spots in his vision, he also saw his family's stability after the fight he would run. One thousand and five hundred dollars was a deal, it was a solid thing to take. 

He threw his fist down onto the man's rib cage, hearing a small crack as the contact. Harley held the man down with his left arm and he straddled the man as he pushed all his weight into the left elbows that was digging into the man's skin. Immediately, he threw his right fist to the man's face too many times to count, before the man's eyes had rolled backwards. 

Harley stood up. He wasn't proud, he wasn't happy, but he didn't deflate, he couldn't, not in public like this. He stood with fake pride and happiness on his face, making everyone in the crowd cheer and woo for him as they thought he enjoyed beating men to the point they have to be unconscious. 

The host stood up with a cheap looking microphone. "Give it up for Keener!!! He has won the prize of one thousand and five hundred dollars! Whoop! Whoop!" 

Harley stumbled off the arena after announcements were down as he carried the unconscious man in a bridal lift. 

The man was taken from his arms and immediately settled into his Boss' medical care "professionals" but at that point, no one could care less if they were professionals, they just wanted him to be cleaned up. 

As he cleaned himself up, his Boss came over to him with a big smile on his face that obviously didn't reach his eyes but it was whatever at that moment. 

"Well done. I have something to say," his Boss called out to him. Harley had raised his eyebrows in confusion. He wasn't sure how to think of that. 

"Um, go ahead."

"You have to go to NYC. Alone. Since, you're so good at fighting you'll have to go to NYC for better fights...and more money. You have to go. It's a demand, unless you want to get fired, but you won't get a better offer than this." 

_What?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: bad parenting (?)

Chapter 2 

Harley opens up the notebook and rereads what happened at the fight that he received the news that he'd be going to New York. 

He sits on the seat, staring through the window and just observing the outside. He knows that this isn't the best idea he's had. But the pain of making his family suffer was way greater than staying inside his comfort zone. And he knew he would be going after days of internal conflict. 

_Scholarship to Midtown High_. 

It almost seems unreal. He's going to a STEM school, yet he knows he can't get any friends. Why would he get them? They'll just find out about their uncertainty of their financial status and call the CPS on possible child neglect from their father and mother. 

He sighs as he watches the plane take off. The cement ground slowly vanishes from view and replaces itself with the bird's eye view of the whole city, then the whole country, then you can't see it at all. His foot tapping to the beat of whatever music he is listening to. 

His brain is going five hundred miles per hour it seems as his thoughts seem to be restless. His chest constricted and his airways felt like they were closing. His heart burns and he feels like he is dying. The breaths catch themself in his throat, causing him to feel like he isn't breathing. The passenger looks to him with a sort of concern on their face before turning a blind eye. 

Harley lifts his head and instantly, the breathing stables but his heart is still constricted. He feels like leaving his family back in Tennessee is betraying them. They all deserve better, maybe not his pa, but who knows? He needs to be with them, right now, just to make sure their okay and happy and healthy. 

_Does Abby know how to look after a drunk mom? Is Abby okay with his drunk mom? Is Abby bullied for being better at the arts then at science? Do they think he's abandoning them? Do they think this is a scheme to just leave?_

His thoughts engulfed his mind for the rest of the one hour of the plane ride. He feels like he's free but he feels trapped. He can't leave the thing that made him feel complete. He hates Tennessee, doesn't like it would a hundred percent move away, but with his family. He can't leave the family. He can't leave them, not after his pa left without a word to his mom. He can't. 

But he has. He's watching the plane descend. He's here. In New York City. It's strange. No more cows, or big fields and meadows, no more shit smelling grass or neighbours' cows trespassing. At least for a year. Only a year. Twelve months. Three hundred and sixty five days on average.

Maybe he is just complaining, but what if, just what if they forget he exists? What if they forget him while he's away or what if they think he forgot them? The questions that never stop every time he leaves the house always reappear. The reason why he's always afraid to leave them behind still flutters in his mind, the face of his drunk pa and the smile on pa's face when he left the house forever. The face is still flourishing like it's new. And it hurts to know that the face of him will always haunt Harley. Yet as everyone gets ready to leave, the thoughts just run faster. 

The bustling streets of a jam-packed city, cars lining up one after the over as the traffic goes on. Harley really hasn't called an Uber before, he hasn't left his house that far before. 

His warm eyes instantly vanish once he is away from home itself, inside the house at least, and he could tell that the driver didn't like the way he looks so cold and distant.

"Ten dollars fifty cents. That's the price. For um, the drive," the driver requests extremely awkwardly, almost as if he is scared or anxious. 

"Right," Harley coldly replies whilst shoving ten dollars and fifty cents into the driver's hands. "Thanks for driving me." 

He opens the car door, looking back at the driver who was looking at him weirdly. Not quite strange because of his confident, prideful and cold exterior. It was pleasing to see. To see that his plan and everything has worked for once. He is glad that the man looks intimidated. It's a good feeling to know that whatever you make or do works. 

Plucking his phone out of his pocket, he calls Abby with a small smirk on his face, instantly planning to call her as much as he can. The phone rings for a few seconds before he can hear Abby pick up. 

"Hey Harles, are you in New York now?" She asks with a slight hint of curiosity lurking in her tone, wondering what outside the dreadful town of Rose Hill was like. 

"Yeah I am. Are you okay?" 

"Mhm, I'm okay, tell me about New York," she demanded with a cheerful tone filled with blissful ignorance about what he was truly doing in New York, how many injuries he's going to get, how many injuries he's going to cause and how many enemies he's going to make. Yet, he doesn't mention that, and only mentions how the things are as if he didn't change his whole personality just to be in public. He hates it. Lying to Abby. But it is what's meant to be done. 

Abby is sure that Harley won't have been planning to leave them forever with this "business trip" to New York, but a sort of fear and dread is still swirling around her stomach. She can't remember the reason why she's scared of abandonment, but she is and every time she asks Harley he just says that it's a you thing and that it's because you just fear it. She knows there is a bigger reason behind it, but she couldn't place it on one reason. It is still strange to her that her mom is drunk all the time and that pa is never there. It is strange, but she never presses onto the topic. 

Harley, though, is sure that Abby thinks he's abandoning her. He's scared of the fact that he's leaving his family behind in Tennessee, but they can't learn about what's happening behind the scenes of his fluctuating wage or salary, yet they don't complain because it's always enough. The money he brings back is also good enough for his mom to steal to buy alcohol, and the convenience stores are too greedy to call the police on the obvious alcohol addiction. It's good enough to buy Abby her art supplies and it's good enough to feed them enough. 

He can't tell anyone that he feels unworthy of eating that food he puts into the plates. He always feels like he needs to do more to secure the happiness of his family. He knows they're not happy, but he just wants them to be and without the money he brings home, the slight amount of happiness that flies around the house would be lowered to absolutely zero happiness flying around the house. Maybe, it is irresponsible to skip school to get some extra money when he loses or when the host only pays a few cents, but it feels like it will make his family happy, so he does it. 

He's too blind to see that his actions don't change the happiness in the family, it only changes their financial status. He's too blind to see that there's a darkness still lurking in the living room, like his pa is still there, standing strongly in the living room. Like his pa is still shouting so loudly that neighbours were concerned but not concerned enough. Like his pa is still there standing over the young Harley, as he tells Harley that he doesn't deserve the food he cooks. Like his pa is waiting, waiting for something or maybe it is just the memories of his past that lurk in the background. 

The face of his pa is somewhere in Tennessee, near his old house, near the house he abandoned, yet Harley didn't know. His pa is near, yet so far away. His pa is planning something, something that would make Harley need to face someone head on. But even his pa doesn't know the plan, he just knows something will happen. And so the pa grins until the corners of his mouth are touching the bottoms of his eyes. 

Harley shakes his head and settles down on the old, dusty couch of his new rented apartment. His eyes flutter shut but he doesn't fall asleep until a few hours pass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please kudos and comment 😔😔 but comment feedback too, since this so all first drafts, I'll out all the feedback into the second drafts or a rewrite or smth.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

The alarm clock blinks and rings about five times before Harley wakes up and turns it off. It's a routine now and for some reason he can't ever come out of it. 

He looks around the room, thinking there would be stacked up inventions or paper flying around the room, but there isn't. He's in New York, not Tennessee. His sister isn't sleeping in the room beside him, his mom isn't hungover in the living room. It's all different now. 

He thinks he's just being dramatic, but it hurts him, knowing that he left his family in Tennessee just so he could earn a few more dollars than usual. But you'd get fired if you didn't accept the offer. 

"Stop being torn up about it," he says to himself in third person. 

Making his way towards the room his sister usually would be in if he was in Tennessee, he realises that she's not there. None of his family are. He's alone, and they're going to abandon him. They're going to think he's abandoning them. 

Shaking his head, he reached for his phone and called Abby like he usually does every morning, every break, every lunch, every dinner, when he does his homework. You would think he's overprotective, but the constant calling isn't because of protectiveness. It's about the fact he needs to show them that he's not leaving ever. Everyday he's been calling her as much as she can, everyday since three days ago. 

"Did you receive the money?" He asks after saying his greetings and good morning. 

"Yes," Abby says in a nonchalant way, but secretly, she's annoyed. She's annoyed at the fact he's enabling their mom's addiction to alcohol. He's enabling Abby to buy whatever she wants as long as it's useful. She tries her hardest not to comment. She knows he's trying his best and he raised her practically on his own, but he's still enabling an addiction. 

"How do you take care of ma?" 

"I make some miso soup which is in the cabinet. Can you take care of breakfast by yourself?" He asks in a genuinely concerned way, but he knows she can, he just needs her to know he won't leave. 

"Okay thanks, and yes I can," Abby sighs into the phone. Harley is away, she reminds herself over and over again. At one point she could hardly breathe and she felt like crying. She's not clingy per se, she's just scared of people leaving. Yet here they are, Harley left and she's alone now with her drunkard of a mother. She doesn't speak about her concerns though, because what if Harley leaves with all her secrets and concerns. 

After a few minutes of calling, he tells her that he'll be calling her as much as he could. Slowly, Abby felt a smile latch itself into her face. She felt a little heart clench knowing that Harley won't leave, at least for now. She knows that, but her heart tells her different and she knows that her small little happiness will disappear within seconds. The happiness fades into sadness as she grabs the miso soup from the cabinet, looking over to her ma that's on the couch, drunk and almost starving. 

Harley turns a blind eye to the faults in all his decisions, and gets ready for his first day at school. Practising his cold facial expressions before going through his wardrobe and picking out his most generic outfit. 

As Harley walks himself to school, Google maps and music playing in his ears. He imagines and envisions his time at school. He'll be ignored, he'll be cold, he won't make any friends, everything will go to plan, he'll call Abby all the time, send them money for what they want and fees, then he'll go home after the year and get a better job. 

At least that what he thinks will happen when he pushes open the gates to Midtown High.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to pace the rest slower, so it's just going to be how school's so annoying etc. I need to add some tags so if you see the tags change then I'm sorry, um, flash is a dick btw in this, just a disclaimer. But he might get a redemption, just planning everything for the side Characters. Also!! Introduction to how Abby thinks and how it conflicts with what Harley is doing!! Kids and comment some feedback if you have any pls. You don't have to, but I mean...validation am I right?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know nothing about the American schooling system as I am from England. I'm very sorry for any mistakes. I'm t i r e d

Chapter 4 

School is always boring. Even if you have friends that laugh along with your silly jokes, or if you have extracurriculars that make it a tad bit more interesting. However, Harley probably wouldn't know about that, considering he had zero amount of friends growing up and about random strangers bullying him. 

He didn't have a father figure. Unless you count Iron-fucking-Man as his father figure, but they lost contact after maybe a few months of talking biweekly. It's pathetic. It's pathetic that Harley walks the halls with pride and confidence, watching the girls and men and not even them swoon under his light. He looks like he is all the right edged, not sharp or soft, just cold but inviting. Like an enigma singing under the moonlight, looking like a puzzle that's waiting to be solved by the right person. 

Anyone who even wants to come up to him is immediately welcomed with a cold glare, which makes every person back down with a slight shiver down their spine. 

Except one person. 

"My name's Flash Thompson. Yours?" The boy had gelled back hair, whilst somehow looking more douchey than cool or *sexy". 

"Harley," he responded, not really wanting to converse right now. 

"Right Harley, what do you think about joining my little group of friends? You'll go up the social ladder as soon as possible."

"No."

The boy has this dejected look on his face that made Harley almost want to squirm away and just run into a bathroom. The look is way too familiar for him to feel comfortable with. He just walked on by, and from his peripheral vision, he sees the boy, "Flash", huff and walk up to a moderately tall, lanky, messy haired and baby face boy. 

Shaking his head, he just walks into the room he assumed is his AP chemistry class. 

As it seems, the door is not quiet when opened, and is in fact, quite squeaky and loud and obnoxious. 

Slightly wincing, he strides into the classroom; instantly noticing that everyone is watching him with a careful stare. It isn't like he is that dangerous, unless you knew what he did to keep his family and himself alive. 

"Oh, I'm guessing you're Harley," the teacher assumes as he strides into the middle of the room. 

"Yes." 

"Okay, um, introduce yourself?" She made it seem like a question, but it is obvious it is a demand. It always is. And it is always the most awkward part of the morning. Also, it is kind of weirdly saddening to see her ignore the fact that he is the boy she toured literally yesterday. 

"Harley Keener, moved from Tennessee. Not very interesting if I'm goin' to be honest," he replies with, his voice littering with faux confidence and pride and coldness. 

"Well, what do you like to do?" 

"Breathin' is interetsin', but ya know, nothin' really." 

"Okay, just sit down next to Peter Parker," the teacher pauses and points to the same baby faced boy he saw getting tormented by the obnoxious Flash guy, "and everyone remember to be extremely kind and friendly!" 

Peter groans as he waves the dirty blonde over towards the seat that was empty. It is now his vow, his job, his profession, to ignore this guy for the rest of his life. Just the confidence, the pride that wavered of the guy was overwhelming, almost as if Peter took some strange Harry Potter potion that made him nauseous. 

Harley isn't nowhere near ugly, in fact extremely handsome and the confidence he wears is very complimentary to the hair, the leather jacket and the skinny jeans that are wrapping around his legs very nicely. No, he is not "simping" for a guy, absolutely not, especially because he isn't even close to him yet and never will be. No. He's just simply complimenting the way he looks. In fact, Peter is so in his own mind, he doesn't realise that Harley has already sat down and the class has started with every student almost scrambling to write notes on time. 

And although Peter may be top of the class, the pain of just listening through things he already knows is dreadfully boring and he just wishes for it to end. He's so close to dozing off when he feels his new seatmate tapping his shoulder to get his attention back to the front, and of course that's when he realises the teacher is staring at him like he is crazily strange. 

Peter just sighs and answers the question easily, his hands aching to make a new web solution for his web shooters and for his Spider-Man business thing. 

He doesn't pay attention until he hears a faint, "Penis," somewhere from behind him. How quickly he turns could truly give someone whiplash. 

"Penis. Penis. Peeeeeenis. Parker. Parker. Penis—finally!!! Do you want to swap seats? I think Harley there would like to sit next to me more than you," Eugene "Flash" Thompson states to him, and honestly, Peter could care less right now about what Flash thinks because if they do switch, the teacher will go heated. 

"Do I not get a say in this?" Peter hears Harley ask to Flash in a cold, almost disturbingly emotionless way. 

"No," he hears Flash reply in response to the honestly, amazing question Harley just asked. 

"Well, I'm goin' to think I have. Ya ain't gonna shut up if you sit next ta me, and I ain't really gonna appreciate that." 

Then he hears Harley turn around back to the front. Peter's mind is running laps right now. _Did that just happen?_

Flash scoffs much more loudly than Peter would like, his heightened hearing makes his eyes ring and his eyes scoot up towards the clock. 

Amazing, spectacular, genuinely so so magnificent. He still has thirty minutes. _Fuck_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please kudos and comment, I want validation.

**Author's Note:**

> Please kudos or comment, also, I might update everyday but idk how to write something before the inviting incident :/


End file.
